Chatbot Intervention for Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Young Adults

NCT ID: NCT05762939

Last Updated: 2023-03-10

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

81 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-05-03

Study Completion Date

2022-08-02

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

This clinical trial compares the effects of using an artificial intelligence based therapy chatbot and a self-help book to lower anxiety and depressive symptoms. The therapy chatbot (named Fido) is an application delivering support for mental health via a conversation-like interface in a highly inflected language (Polish).

The team will recruit young people (aged 18-35) who currently struggle with anxiety and/or depression. The participants will use the chatbot or self-help materials for two weeks. Then, the researchers will check if using the chatbot or the book improved several aspects of mental health and the quality of life. Moreover, they will compare the groups for any differences in outcomes.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

The primary objective of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a chatbot-delivered cognitive-behavioural intervention on anxiety and depressive symptoms (and their correlates, such as quality of life or feelings of loneliness) in a subclinical sample of about 80 participants.

The intervention results are compared to an active control intervention with popular self-help materials. Secondary objectives include the assessment and analysis of the human-chatbot therapeutic bond and general user experience.

The study uses a 2 x 3 mixed factorial design with two intervention arms (Fido chatbot vs self-help book) and three time points (T1: just prior to the intervention, T2: immediately after the intervention, T3: at a follow-up one month after the previous measurement). The primary intervention lasts two weeks.

All primary and secondary outcomes are assessed using self-administered online questionnaires in Polish. Each primary outcome measure is analyzed using a 2 (arms) x 2 (time points) ANOVA models with T1-T2 comparisons to test for the intervention effect and T1-T3 comparisons to check the stability of the intervention effect. Additional analyzes utilize standard NHST calculations and procedures (such as t-tests and correlation coefficients) alongside the conventional ⍺=.05 level.

Similarly to the previous research in this area, no blinding is used. Participants are informed about different conditions, but the research hypotheses are masked.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Anxiety Depression

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Chatbot

Intervention using a pre-release version of Fido (https://fido.aid.pl), Polish AI-based therapy chatbot.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Chatbot

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants in this condition were asked to use Fido, a Polish therapy chatbot, for two weeks. No minimal requirements of usage time were enforced, but participants had to fill in five engagement check surveys during the intervention period. Each survey had to be completed in less than 24 hours.

Control (book)

Intervention using self-help materials - chapters from a popular book on cognitive therapy, including worksheets.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Control (book)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants in this condition were told to read selected chapters from a self-help book during the two-week intervention period. No minimal requirements of usage time were enforced, but participants had to fill in five engagement check surveys during the intervention period. Each survey had to be completed in less than 24 hours.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Chatbot

Participants in this condition were asked to use Fido, a Polish therapy chatbot, for two weeks. No minimal requirements of usage time were enforced, but participants had to fill in five engagement check surveys during the intervention period. Each survey had to be completed in less than 24 hours.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Control (book)

Participants in this condition were told to read selected chapters from a self-help book during the two-week intervention period. No minimal requirements of usage time were enforced, but participants had to fill in five engagement check surveys during the intervention period. Each survey had to be completed in less than 24 hours.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* declaring at least mild depressive or anxiety symptoms by achieving a total score of at least 16 points on Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised or at least 50 points on Penn State Worry Questionnaire
* being able to visit the study site in Poznań (Poland) to complete all measurements

Exclusion Criteria

* undergoing psychotherapy, coaching or psychopharmacological treatment
* being diagnosed with a neurological disorder
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

35 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Jarosław Michałowski, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Laboratory of Affective Neuroscience in Poznań, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities

Poznan, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Poland

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Tariman JD, Berry DL, Halpenny B, Wolpin S, Schepp K. Validation and testing of the Acceptability E-scale for web-based patient-reported outcomes in cancer care. Appl Nurs Res. 2011 Feb;24(1):53-8. doi: 10.1016/j.apnr.2009.04.003. Epub 2009 Sep 18.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20974066 (View on PubMed)

Russell D, Peplau LA, Cutrona CE. The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1980 Sep;39(3):472-80. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.39.3.472.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 7431205 (View on PubMed)

Munder T, Wilmers F, Leonhart R, Linster HW, Barth J. Working Alliance Inventory-Short Revised (WAI-SR): psychometric properties in outpatients and inpatients. Clin Psychol Psychother. 2010 May-Jun;17(3):231-9. doi: 10.1002/cpp.658.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20013760 (View on PubMed)

Moshe I, Terhorst Y, Philippi P, Domhardt M, Cuijpers P, Cristea I, Pulkki-Raback L, Baumeister H, Sander LB. Digital interventions for the treatment of depression: A meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull. 2021 Aug;147(8):749-786. doi: 10.1037/bul0000334.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 34898233 (View on PubMed)

Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB. The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001 Sep;16(9):606-13. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 11556941 (View on PubMed)

Koziara K. Assessment of depressiveness in population. Psychometric evaluation of the Polish version of the CESD-R. Psychiatr Pol. 2016 Dec 23;50(6):1109-1117. doi: 10.12740/PP/61614. English, Polish.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28211550 (View on PubMed)

Fitzpatrick KK, Darcy A, Vierhile M. Delivering Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Young Adults With Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using a Fully Automated Conversational Agent (Woebot): A Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Ment Health. 2017 Jun 6;4(2):e19. doi: 10.2196/mental.7785.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28588005 (View on PubMed)

Crawford JR, Henry JD. The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS): construct validity, measurement properties and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. Br J Clin Psychol. 2004 Sep;43(Pt 3):245-65. doi: 10.1348/0144665031752934.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15333231 (View on PubMed)

Meyer TJ, Miller ML, Metzger RL, Borkovec TD. Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Behav Res Ther. 1990;28(6):487-95. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(90)90135-6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 2076086 (View on PubMed)

Kusier AO, Folker AP. The Satisfaction with Life Scale: Philosophical Foundation and Practical Limitations. Health Care Anal. 2021 Mar;29(1):21-38. doi: 10.1007/s10728-020-00420-y. Epub 2021 Jan 2.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33386535 (View on PubMed)

Julian LJ. Measures of anxiety: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A). Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2011 Nov;63 Suppl 11(0 11):S467-72. doi: 10.1002/acr.20561. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22588767 (View on PubMed)

Karkosz S, Szymanski R, Sanna K, Michalowski J. Effectiveness of a Web-based and Mobile Therapy Chatbot on Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Subclinical Young Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Form Res. 2024 Mar 20;8:e47960. doi: 10.2196/47960.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 38506892 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

Access external resources that provide additional context or updates about the study.

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

RID_FIDO_RCT_1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.